Iron Closets
by RZZMG
Summary: Someone once said, "The worst lies are the lies we tell ourselves. We live in denial of what we do, even what we think. We do this because we're afraid." Draco Malfoy is about to learn this lesson the hard way as his Vampire heritage awakens & he's stuck choosing between Theodore Nott & Hermione Granger. Romance triangle/Drama/Angst/Slash & Het. 2013 HP-Creatures Fest entry.
1. Chapter 1

**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

**This was my entry for the 2013 HP-Creatures Halloween Fest (hp-creatures . livejournal . com). ****The fest is over and reveals are out, so I can post this for you here. This fanfic is multi-chaptered, but complete. I will post a chapter up every couple of weeks until it is finished.**

**Here was the prompt I worked from:**

_Prompt:#3_  
_Creature: Dhampir (Vampire off-shoot)_  
_Pairing: Draco Malfoy x Theodore Nott x Hermione Granger_

**Thank you to my beta, Ladysashi – once more, you've come through for me at the 11th hour! Thank you to the Mod for hosting this fest.**

**Please review!**

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**DISCLAIMER: **"Harry Potter" is the property of J.K. Rowling and Warner Bros. This fanfiction was written entirely for fun, not for profit, and no copyright infringement is intended. All characters depicted in sexual situations are above the age of consent.

**TIMELINE:** Post-Hogwarts

**MAIN CHARACTERS FEATURED (alphabetical order, last name):** Hermione Granger, Draco Malfoy, Lucius Malfoy, Narcissa Malfoy, Theodore Nott

**SUMMARY:** The heart wants what it wants, and biology be damned.

**RATING: **NC-17 (MA)

**WARNINGS:** Explicit Het & Slash sex situations, vampire blood drinking, explicit profanity, mental break, use of potions, characters a bit OOC for the sake of this fic.

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**_IRON CLOSETS_**

**By: RZZMG**

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**The worst lies are the lies we tell ourselves.  
We live in denial of what we do, even what we think.  
We do this because we're afraid.  
- Richard Bach**

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"Bloody hypocrites, the lot!"

Lying on his bed, staring up at the too-white ceiling of his room, Draco got his full rant on – and that motherfucking train was steamrolling down the tracks on maximum burn, too.

"The new Ministry poses all nice for the cameras and preaches tolerance in public, but behind the curtain, they lock me up in my own home for the next thirty days like some kind of rabid animal, citing a bullshit excuse of 'public safety'," he snarled, clenching his fists at his sides. "Slytherin's bollocks, I'm not like that mad dog, Greyback! I'm not going to go out and start attacking people. What the fuck do they think I am?"

"You're related to Vampires," Theo reminded him from his perch on the lounger. "Research indicates it takes approximately thirty days from the time of a Vampire's transformation for them to become comfortable in their new state and to restrain their baser impulses, specifically their bloodlust."

"But I'm _not_ a Vampire!" Draco shouted, feeling his fangs elongate in his mouth as his anger increased. "I'm _Dhampir_! I'm a living person, born like everyone else. Vampires are Dhampir that burn their hearts up in some sickening dark magic ritual to gain immortality. They're undead ghouls, unable to reproduce, consume normal food, go to the loo – hell, they're scared of the fecking sun! They're like Inferi, only they live off the blood of the living, instead of cannibalizing the flesh. I breathe, eat, fuck, can make babies, like the sunlight, and take a daily shit. There's a world of difference there!"

"Not to the small-minded and woefully uneducated, there isn't," his friend reiterated. "What they know is that you both drink blood, you can both bench an Erumpent, and you both move faster than an Unforgivable. Ergo, you're dangerous." He licked his index finger and turned the page on the book he was reading. "They fear you because they don't understand you."

Draco growled and slapped his palms down hard at his side. "Bloody, _bloody_ hypocrites!"

Being Dhampir sucked the big one! It wasn't half as cool as Draco had assumed it would be when his father had explained the change to him just prior to his twenty-first birthday. He'd thought his family's secret heritage would come with super-strength, super-speed, awesome body changes, a set of wicked fangs, and animal magnetism that would leave the ladies panting. Well, it had… only not in the way he'd at all expected. Instead of those things working in his favour, it turned out he was the one enslaved by his new 'gifts'…

"Fucking morons!" he hissed. "What they're doing is a clear rights violation! You'd think the way they're treating me that I was some psychotic freak or something."

"Or, Salazar forbid, gay," Theo replied, his tone flat and dry.

Draco growled. Theo may have been a top-shelf best friend, but the small jabs and disparaging comments he made every once in a while regarding the conservative values Draco was raised with were a bit annoying. Sure, over the last two years, he'd been willing to drop the Mudblood crusade, especially as it didn't make much sense to him after everything he'd been through in the war, but Draco didn't like the veiled implications that he was a repressed homosexual.

_I am not gay._

"I ought to bring this before the court," he threatened. "Force the issue into the open. If nothing else, it would embarrass those gits in Magical Law to have someone challenging their absolute authority."

His quiet, reserved companion didn't immediately respond, having heard these same charges hurled about for the last week since Draco's transition, and bearing them in much the same manner as he was now – in silent contemplation. At any time, he expected his friend to make some smarmy comment about "same tune, different day," and march out, never to return, having finally grown weary of Draco's whining. He almost wished it _did_ happen that way, as it would make things so much easier between them…

When the guy did finally reply, it was with an offer Draco hadn't expected: "Do you need more blood?"

Draco turned his head to glance over at his childhood best mate. Theo was sitting on the cushioned chaise across the room, book open in his lap, his concentration zeroed-in on the page before him. Even as his baby blues skimmed across the words with an envious speed, Draco knew the guy's attention was expertly split between the conversation they were having and the research that currently engaged him. Theo was, simply put, a monster at multitasking.

It was no wonder his friend was dating someone like Hermione Granger. They were perfect for each other.

Granger… God, just thinking his mate's name conjured the memory of the scent of her on Theo, and _that_ made Draco's balls ache. His pelvis twisted and rose from the bed in an uncontrollable move, and it took a serious exertion of his will to calm his body down. Jesus, his cock was _pounding_ for another release!

He fisted his hands at his sides, refusing to wank again today. He'd already done it three times since he'd woken up, and stroking himself to the fantasy image of Hermione Granger was enough to make him sick. He didn't want to feel such things for _her_, and it made him ill to know he wasn't going to be able to resist the urge to pin her down and fuck her brains out much longer. Dhampir biology wasn't one to be denied for long, especially in the aftermath of one's transition upon their twenty-first birthday – a date and event that had recently come and gone.

"I already took from you today," he reminded his companion.

_And it feels like some kind of mindfuck to be sucking down your blood while imagining myself jizzing hard inside your girlfriend._

Theo glanced sideways at him. "That's not what I asked you."

The thought of once more sinking his fangs into his best friend's vein had Draco's stomach tightening with hunger, and not just the type sated by feeding…

_Don't think of him that way. It's wrong!_

Theo was his best friend, his brother in Slytherin, his most trusted and loyal companion. They were boon-companions of the heart. The guy had never turned from Draco, had always offered to help him – even during sixth year, when the Dark Lord's task had proved nearly impossible (and then too terrifying) to ultimately complete. He'd sheltered Draco at his home that same summer to escape Voldemort's wrath, sneaking him around right under the Senior Nott's long, hooked nose, after word had gotten out that it had been Snape who'd killed Dumbledore and not Draco. He'd held Draco at night, when he'd been haunted by nightmares of being hunted down and slain in some hideous manner by his dark Master. He'd been at Draco's side all through seventh year, assuring no one caught Draco alone or bullied him. Theo had been at his trial, even, offering moral support and testimony on Draco's behalf (where he'd been, ironically, when he'd begun chatting up Granger, who'd been dating Weasley then).

In the years since, Theo had never abandoned him, even when the rest of their friends had cut Draco dead. And now that he'd had his world turned once more on its head, Theo was there for him to help him pick up the pieces. The guy came over every day, to help Draco research his affliction, to try to help him find a way around it, and to offer up his delicate, sweet veins for the cause-

-and even as he took from his friend and accepted his aid, Draco was lying to him.

The moment he'd smelled Hermione Granger's scent on Theo, Draco had known he would betray his best friend, as the Dhampir within him had picked its intended mate - Theo's girlfriend.

_"It's unfortunate that you'd be attracted to Potter's little Mudblood friend,"_ his father had said when he'd confessed his mate's identity to his old man in a moment of weakness and fear, _"but there's nothing to be done about it. If she's your mate, eventually, you'll have to claim her. To deny the impulse will only lead to great suffering, boy, so do as I suggest and don't let your… friendship... stand in the way."_

His friendship. Even his father had stumbled on the word, as if implying that what was between Draco and Theo was something else, something more.

_No, it can't be._

Four months. All he had to do was ride out the next four months, and then the mating heat would go away. Dhampir were only afflicted with the uncontrollable urge to mate their mate and impregnate her during those four months between June and September, and then it was only once every three years. If he could get past it this time, he'd be free of the ravenous need for Granger for thirty-six whole months before it struck again. He'd have time to try to work something out in between, surely.

In order to do that, though, he needed to keep his strength up. Drinking blood allowed him to stay strong and resist the temptation to give in to the call of his lust.

"I am a bit thirsty," he admitted to Theo, buying a little more time for himself and them.

Without a word, Theo put his book down and stood up, already loosening the buttons on the collar of his shirt. That luscious scent of his mate wafted closer with every step his friend took towards him, but it was the look on Theo's face and the exposed dark hair on his chest that had Draco's lower body tensing up.

_It's about feeding. That's all this is… all it can ever be._

Theo sat on the edge of his bed, and Draco's erection popped, tenting his lounging pants in an embarrassing display of sexual arousal.

_It's because he smells like Granger. That's all._

Even as his fangs elongated and he reached for his friend, some part of Draco knew he was the biggest hypocrite of them all.

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_**TO BE CONTINUED...**_

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**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**

**Please review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's Notes:**

**If you've read this at the fest site on Livejournal, please note that there is ~300 extra words added to this chapter here ****to try to flesh out the story a bit more and adding a bit more foreshadowing. Also,** I fixed some of the sentences that bothered me in revision 1.0. Hope you enjoy it!

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**+.+.+.+.+**

It had been twenty days since his Dhampir side had awakened, and Draco was seriously having a hard time controlling his raging libido.

Twenty-four/seven his mind was devoted to conjuring various sexual scenarios, and his body with riding out the hard, hot _need_ to release. He slept, ate, dreamed, and showered the thought of plunging into tight, warm holes, of thrusting his hips in such a way to elicit sounds from his faceless fantasy lovers. In a little less than three weeks after his transition, his sleep pattern had been disturbed to the point where his nerves were beginning to fray, and he was seriously worried about having a psychotic break.

His frotting of Theo while feeding had gotten out of control, too. He dry-humped his friend and came all over the guy every time he took his vein. It was humiliating for them both, and he knew Theo probably viewed Draco as depraved and sick as Draco thought he was behaving. The guy never complained and generously forgave, though, but Draco still felt that hot rush of awkwardness and embarrassment in the aftermath that was the general rule for one-offs. It was an awful situation all-around.

To make matters worse, Theo's constant resupply of Blood Restorative Potion was beginning to attract attention. There were whispers here and there about why he'd need to purchase a vial or two a day from the apothecary in Knockturn, and curious eyes turned with greater frequency towards him as a result. Eventually, someone was going to put it all together when they started watching the Floo Network for Theo's daily travels.

Draco's mother and father both had encouraged him to stop seeing Theo completely and to just go and woo Granger. _"You can always beg forgiveness from your friend later for stealing his paramour,"_ Lucius had urged him. "_Offer the man something he'll want in exchange – find him a new witch to obsess over." _

Apparently, that's how his dad had managed to snag Draco's mother from Rodolphus Lestrange – by offering Bellatrix in exchange. Draco couldn't do such a thing, though. Theo meant too much to him, and Granger… she'd be so consumed by guilt if they were to betray Theo that it would completely ruin their future together. Not to mention, he was sure he'd lose his favourite appendage if he dared to use her in such a callous, perfunctory manner. Her hexes were legendary, and he was smart enough to stay clear of them.

Besides, there was something comforting about having someone you knew and trusted supplying you with what you needed; Draco didn't really know Granger, not in any sort of a deep, intensely personal manner – not like he knew Theo. Aside from being his best friend, his former brother in Slytherin was the perfect blood donor as well: he wasn't squeamish, didn't flinch from pain, was the correct blood type to provide Draco's nourishment, his blood actually tasted good (closer to 'delicious', really), and the guy was more than willing to help out. There was no need to persuade Theo to give up what Draco so vitally needed, ergo there was no need to look elsewhere for his needs to be sated.

If only his best friend had been born a girl then none of this would be a problem! He'd have claimed her as his mate right off, without hesitation.

To his astonishment, the thought made his erection come alive. He willed it down, embarrassed and shocked by how his body reacted to such forbidden thoughts.

For fuck's sake, there had to be something in the mountain of books in his family's library that would help him to ease the symptoms of his heat! Why couldn't they find it, though? He and Theo had looked everywhere, been through dozens of tomes together and separately, both those on white and dark magic. The answer remained hidden from them, though.

Perhaps if they brought Granger in on the plan, she could- _No, no way. _He couldn't risk her in his house, not now when his control was so lacking.

Throwing down the book he was skimming, Draco roared his disgust at their lack of progress. He was irritable, feeling sugar-low, and having trouble concentrating, and that combined with the throbbing in his cock was a recipe for disaster. He wanted to get fucked. He wanted blood. He wanted to be drinking blood while shagging his fucking gourd out.

"You ready to stop being stubborn yet?" Theo asked him from his favourite seat on the lounger in Draco's room. He was reading a book on potions ingredients, hoping to find some innocuous weed or powdered product that could be used to anesthetize Draco's over-active hormones.

Draco groaned and turned onto his side, wrapping his arms around his middle. His hunger was making him crazed. It was to the point where he was beginning to equate sex and feeding as similar pleasures, so that every time his thirst rose, so did his erection. The problem was he didn't want to feel sexual interest in Theo. Shit, it was bad enough he wanted the guy's girlfriend!

"It's been five hours since the last feeding," he whined. "Why is this fucking happening again? It shouldn't be this soon!"

Theo shrugged, never looking up from his book. "Five hours is an average length for most human hunger between snacks or meals while awake. And what's the big deal, Draco? You need this. Let me give it to you."

Draco snapped, "You're not some bloody Blood Pop to go sucking on whenever I need a fix, Theo! You've got real physical limits, and hurting you is the last thing I want to do. Besides, I don't fancy draining you dry and explaining later to a Ministry tribunal that they were right to keep me locked up."

His friend shut his book, setting it aside and stood up, unbuttoning his shirt in preparation for blood sharing again. Apparently, he'd gotten tired of the bellyaching and was going to take the bull by the horns this time. Draco stared at the base of the guy's throat as it was revealed; he could actually hear Theo's strong heart beat as it sped up in response. The sound called to Draco's lust, and his cock strained against his trousers, seeking release. Surely, Theo saw it, judged him queer for it.

"You're not going to lose control and kill me," his friend reassured him. "I trust you not to take it that far."

"Then you're a fool," Draco said, without heat. Already his will was beginning to falter at the thought of sinking his fangs into the soft flesh of his friend's throat.

A brisk, summer breeze coming in through the open French doors blew past his Theo's short, dark hair, and he absently brushed it aside before pulling his shirt open and letting it slide down his shoulders to the floor. Draco's gaze swept over Theo's face, down his body to his boots before retracing the path. Unwittingly, he paused at his friend's hips, noting the way his leathers perfectly fit, and again at the alluring curve of the guy's neck, where the artery lay just under that smooth, golden skin. Practically tasting the strong, rhythmic pulse on his tongue from across the room, he licked his lips.

"Merlin, I need you," he whispered, not realizing the words were past his lips and filling the space between them until Theo paused in mid-step and their eyes locked.

There was surprise on his friend's face, and… was that_ longing?_

"Do you really?" Theo asked him, his voice as soft and low as Draco's had been.

Draco shut his eyes, rolled onto his back. They shouldn't keep doing this. It was torture for them both. Granger's scent was still upon his friend; he could smell it despite the distance. Theo and she lived together in a small flat outside Surrey, they slept in the same bed… and they'd made love that morning. The sticky, sweet musk of her feminine, sexual essence had been stronger when Theo had first arrived at his house that day, and Draco had been rougher in his taking from his friend's throat as a result (and in his grabbing and holding Theo down, in pinning him with his hips, in frotting against him until his seed soaked them both…). That delicious scent hadn't abated over the hours, and he worried now about his control should he get too close to that enticing fragrance again.

_Don't hurt him_, he repeated the mantra in his head. It was the same one he'd been saying to himself since their first bloodletting. _God, please, don't let me hurt him!_

"It's changing again – making you more volatile," Theo stated, coming alongside the bed. "The last two days, you've been even moodier than normal. We have to bring your mate to you, soon. Have you sussed her out yet?"

Draco barked a dark, despairing laugh. "Yeah, and no thanks. She's off-limits."

"How so?" Theo pressed.

Sighing, Draco rubbed a hand across his face in frustration. "She's with someone, another wizard. They're happy. I don't fancy getting in the middle of that."

His friend was quiet for a moment or two, considering that.

"We'll think of something, Draco. Just, don't give up."

Peering through a heavy, half-lidded gaze, resigned to the inevitable, Draco remained very still as Theo unlaced his boots and kicked them off, then crawled into the middle of the bed next to him. With a confident dexterity, the guy unbuttoned Draco's shirt and pushed the material off his shoulders in seconds.

The moment Theo's fingers lightly skimmed across Draco's naked skin, Draco's fangs punched through his gums, elongating. His mouth watered and ravenous greed took over. In a flash, he had Theo on his back, pushed into the soft bedding. He straddled the guy's belly and locked onto his throat, biting deep. His friend cried out at the sharp, quick pain of being penetrated by those two needle-like canines, but then he went quiet and relaxed, turning his head to provide a better angle for Draco to feed.

To Draco's immense surprise, he'd discovered during his very first feeding, that to his altered taste buds, his best friend's blood was actually sweeter than the richest, most decadent chocolate on the planet. It was satisfying in a way that had no earthly peer. He'd once read that the Muggles had a drug called 'heroin' that was said to be, in its purest form, the most addictive substance in the world – and absolutely impossible to kick. Taking this drug supposedly felt like the afterglow of the most intense orgasm you'd ever experience, but then later, you'd need more or you'd suffer extremely painful withdrawal symptoms. He thought that description might adequately liken to his drinking Theo's blood.

As he braced his hold at the joint of Theo's throat and sucked with bruising pulls, avariciously swallowing, from his peripheral vision he spied Theo's fingers curl and reach for him, only to rethink that plan and instead tightly grip the coverlet at his side. The guy gave a deep, breathy moan, though, one that was unmistakably pleasure-filled, and his eyelashes fluttered as if he was the one chasing a drug high. Clearly, he enjoyed Draco feeding from him as much as Draco enjoyed doing it.

Being careful not to take too much, Draco began the litany in his head that had gotten him through this same event every day for the last twenty: _I am human. He's my friend. Do not hurt him! __  
_

A light sheen of sweat beaded his upper lip as he internally struggled to keep his heightened sexual arousal away from this act, too. It took nearly everything he had to keep control of his baser impulses, but despite his best efforts, it seemed his body had a mind of its own. He grazed Theo's iron-hard erection with his own once, twice… and again. It felt so good, so sensual and heady that Draco quickly became dizzy from the sensation.

_Stop this,_ the rational side of his head warned. _You don't want... You can't want... I__t's her scent –Granger's scent– that's affecting you! You're hungry and jealous, and you need to mate. __That's all this is... all it can ever be._

Even as the thoughts crossed his mind, his head unconsciously shook slightly from left to right, as if his body were all on its own denying his reasoning.

The more he drank, the more instinct drove him on, shoving him quickly into a frenzy of need. His hips dropped down again and swung loose, boldly stroking and thrusting against Theo's with no intention of stopping this time. His fingers carded through Theo's soft hair and grabbed hold, ensuring no escape for either of them, even as his jaw tightened its hold and his teeth lengthened, driving deeper into his friend's body…

Under him, his best friend gave a pain-filled cry.

The sound shattered the moment and was a bucket of ice water down Draco's pants. Ripping his mouth away, licking once over the wounds at Theo's throat to close them, he was on his feet and literally across the room a moment later, removing his person entirely from all temptation.

"S-sorry," he babbled, wiping at his mouth and fighting to calm his body's natural responses. "I'm sorry! I took too much. I was rough. Jesus, I'm so fucking sorry!"

Theo's voice was shaky and a bit slurred, as if he were suddenly very exhausted. "S'okay. Think I'll have a lie here for a while, though. Head's spinning."

Feeling like the worst heel in the universe, Draco hurried on wobbly knees towards the door. If he stayed, he wasn't sure he wouldn't want more of things he had no business wanting. Better to go now, while he still had the strength. "You'll need to eat and rest. I'll send a House-elf to assure you're comfortable and cared for. Use my bedroom. I'll take a spare." He opened the door to the hallway beyond, pausing at the jamb, the guilt slamming into his abdomen. "I-I'm sorry, Theo."

His friend's sigh was loud in the hushed room. "Don't be. My choice."

It was difficult to make himself turn and look over his shoulder at his boon companion, but he did it anyway. "Yeah, but… Shit. It was-"

Raising a tired hand, his best mate cut him off. "I know."

_No, you don't know_, Draco thought, feeling worse than ever. _You don't know what I almost did to you!_

He nodded anyway, turned and rushed off down the hall, shutting the door behind him.

Summoning an elf, he gave it instructions, and then heading down to the first floor to the library to do some more reading on his predicament. It was time to either do something about this frenzied need he had or to make other arrangements for his blood requirements, because hurting Theo again wasn't an option.

Nearly raping the guy? Completely unforgivable.

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_**TO BE CONTINUED...**_

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**Author's Note:**

**Please review!**

**Insofar as my other stories go, please read my updates on my blog (rzzmg . wordpress . com) to find out where they are and what's coming next!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's Notes:**

A few changes here and there to fix some mistakes I made in revision 1.0 (the fest submission). Hope it helps to clear up some issues.

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Thirty days exactly since he'd turned twenty-one, and Draco's room looked like a hurricane had been through it. His recent tantrum had been over the top, fuelled by exhaustion, sexual frustration, and aggravation over his situation. It had boiled under his skin until finally he'd lost it, chasing his mother off. He'd trashed everything once the door had slammed shut behind her, using his super-human strength to rend and destroy furniture –and his clothing– until his fury had eventually blown itself out.

Lying half naked and panting in the middle of his shredded mattress in the aftermath, he stared up at the torn canopy and snarled at his stupid, sodding fate.

She was pregnant. Theo had confirmed it not an hour ago by Floo-call: Hermione was having his best friend's baby.

Theo had been so happy and proud he'd been practically glowing.

Jealousy tore Draco in two at the memory. Anguish knotted his chest. Sexual hunger ravaged him. Exhaustion and despair hit him with dual fists of equal force. He put his hands over his eyes and screamed until his throat went raw. Then, he cried.

**+.+.+.+.+**

His mother dared to open his door to check on him two hours later, curled up in a foetal position on what remained of his bed. Draco barely reacted to her intrusion into his private space, having gone into a type of shock that had locked up his limbs and left him in a strange dazed condition. He'd been able to hear and see, but had been oddly disconnected and apathetic to the world around him.

"This has gone too far," he heard her murmur.

"She's your witch," his father angrily stated, speaking to a third person in the room. "Can't you loan her out to him, just until this passes?"

"Hermione's pregnant," Theo replied. "We just found out today. I Floo'd him with the news, hoping it would somehow shift his interests to some other witch."

Something in the back of Draco's mind perked up at that. Theo had known who Draco's mate was? How, exactly, and for how long? Was that why the guy had offered himself as a blood donor – to protect his girlfriend?

"Foolish boy," Lucius scolded Theo. "His mate isn't some choice he gets to make! It's arbitrary, based on random pheromones. These outbursts will only get worse until the heat cycle is complete or he bonds with his mate. Neither of them have a choice in the matter. It's either that or he'll die, eventually, put down by the Ministry for his violent, obsessive rages."

Everyone was silent in the face of that pronouncement.

"I might have an idea as to how we can all get what we want from this situation," Theo said, sounding a bit hesitant. "I'll have to ask Hermione first if it's even possible." His footsteps headed away, towards the door. "Wait for my Owl."

"Don't take too long," Draco's mother requested.

"By tomorrow," Theo called over his shoulder, and then he was gone.

_Don't go,_ Draco mentally called after his best friend. _Come back. I need you!_

Unfortunately, his voice like the rest of him was paralyzed by fear and self-doubt, and so the words never made it past his lips.

**+.+.+.+.+**

Five days later, Hermione Granger unexpectedly appeared in the middle of the night and slipped into Draco's bed, naked, to seduce him.

"You smell the same, like a combination of you and Theo," Draco whispered as he sniffed her hair. He caressed her smooth, lithe curves with trembling fingers, tracing a path over her cheeks, her throat, and her shoulders to learn her body. "I thought you'd smell different, but I suppose it makes sense."

"Less talking, more touching," Granger demanded, pulling his hands up to cup her unbound breasts. They were a lovely weight in his palms. The fit was perfect.

It didn't feel right, though. Over the last several weeks, he'd become used to touching smooth, rigid muscle with a sprinkling of crisp, dark hair, not squishy, bare flesh.

_This is what I'm supposed to like,_ he reminded himself. _I'm supposed to want this body – her body. She's my mate._

Clearly, a part of him did still want her despite his mind's stalling. His cock was reacting to Granger as it should: primed and more than ready to get busy. Her scent definitely helped promote those feelings. The problem was his brain wasn't on board with the plan. He looked at her and felt… blocked.

_Do it. It's not a difficult thing to do. You've done it before._

Having lost his virginity at fifteen to Pansy, and fucked his way through a slew of witches this past year, prior to his change, Draco understood just where to touch a woman and with how much pressure. Like riding a broom, it became automatic to him the moment a soft female was naked and willing for his touch.

Still, making love to Granger felt wrong, like a betrayal.

"You're Theo's. We can't-"

"Shut up, Draco, and take the offer. Ease yourself. Use my body."

Something in the way she spoke didn't sound like the Granger he knew. He'd been forced to spend enough time with her as a result of hanging around Theo to know that she'd never, ever called him by his first name – even after all this time. It also seemed ridiculous that Granger would say something like, 'ease yourself' or 'use me' to him.

He absently massaged her breasts, listening, watching, and scenting the air.

Granger arched into him, pressing her core against his, and gave a throaty, masculine-sounding moan in response to his fondling. "Fuck, that feels good. I never thought-"

That cinched it. Hermione Granger would never use the word, 'fuck'.

Draco removed his hands and stared up at the imposter currently soaking his dick with her arousal. "Who are you, really? I know you're not Granger."

The would-be-Granger pressed tiny palms to his chest and teased him by rubbing her damp flesh all over him. "What's the big deal, Draco? You need this. Let me give it to you."

In a snap, Draco knew who it was above him, recalling those same words not days before from another mouth.

_"What's the big deal, Draco? You need this. Let me give it to you,"_ Theo had said.

The moment his mind made the mental connection between who was currently in bed with him and how it was possible to still want to fuck despite that fact (or because of it), everything clicked into place. Draco finally felt free to take what was being offered.

_I want you,_ he thought with some sense of awe. _Not her. You. It's always been you._

The dam broke. Hunger roared through him. His fangs punched through his gums, longer and sharper than before. Rearing up, he fisted a handful of long, dark curls and pulled the fake-Granger's throat to his mouth. Closing his eyes, he saw his real mate in his mind, and used that image to spur him into action. He rolled them until his mate was under him. Her soft, yielding body no longer bothered him, for he recognised the spirit it housed.

It was then that he finally understood: in love, the body didn't matter, only the soul did.

"You want this?" he asked, offering a last out. It would mean his doom if he was rejected now, as he'd probably go feral at being refused and need to be euthanised by the Ministry, but he wouldn't go any further without permission.

There was no hesitation in the response his mate gave him, however. "Yes, I want you, Draco. I always have."

"You're mine, then," Draco growled, and pulled his hips back, thrusting forward into his mate's body as his lips locked onto the pounding pulse at the juncture of her delicate, white throat. He rolled his pelvis, sliding in and out to a rhythm that was strong, fierce, and utterly possessive.

Under him, his mate surrendered to his claim with enthusiastic agreement.

Thus sanctioned, Draco took his fill of everything from his mate without the chains of guilt or regret to weigh him down any longer.

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_**TO BE CONTINUED...**_

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**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

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	4. Chapter 4

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The minute Hermione Granger allowed Draco through her Floo later the next afternoon Draco knew that Theo's witch knew what had happened the night before – that she had, in fact, helped to engineer the outcome.

"You smell like knotgrass and lacewings." He sniffed again. "Is that blood?"

Granger's cheeks pinked, and there was no hiding the guilt from her eyes. "Dragon's blood, actually. It allows Polyjuice to last for up to twenty-four hours."

Draco gave a small cynical huff. "Snape would be proud. Is that what you do for the Department of Mysteries as an Unspeakable, then – improve potions?"

Her eyes rounded, but she kept her lips closed.

He felt his smirk widen. "Zabini's the same – can't talk about it." He shook his head, his amusement gone in a microsecond as he spied the hallway that led to what was presumably hers and Theo's shared bedroom. Their combined scent was strong here, in the house, but grew richer, more fertile the further he stepped into the flat. "Is he okay?"

Granger's sigh was heavy with regret. "He'll be fine. You'll need to consider an alternative blood source, though, while he recovers. You took too much last night. He needs to rest for a few days."

Feeling that familiar pang of guilt in his chest, Draco rubbed over the spot and nodded. "I will, but… in a few days, it'll come back. I'm okay now, but–" He turned the full weight of his gaze upon her. "I assume you've read up on the problem and how it will never go away?"

She swallowed, and her throat convulsed in a way that had Draco's blood speeding up. "I know." Her hands stroked nervously over her belly. "I'm not sure how this is going to work between the three of us." Her cheeks were suffused with a lovely stain of red now. "There will have to be some adjustments… for the baby's sake."

"He told me. Congratulations."

"Thanks."

Draco turned away, feeling that tight knot of jealousy strangling him once more. As he rubbed at his chest again, he realized his feelings on the matter weren't at all as he'd previously thought: the resentment and envy in his heart regarding the baby didn't exist _for_ Granger, but _because_ of her.

Moving to her front window to get away from the witch, Draco stared down on the quiet street outside, contemplating his next words. It was time to lay all his cards down.

"Theo's my mate, not you. I realized it last night."

"I know," she replied, sounding resigned and sad. "I've known from the start."

He spun about, confused by her response. "How?"

"The first night Theo came home and told me he'd opened a vein for you. I knew that meant you'd marked him as your intended lover. I'd read in one of Edward Worple's books that Dhampir can only take blood from their mates, and other people's blood makes them physically sick." She caressed a hand over her belly. "I'm glad I got pregnant when I did, because I knew that eventually you two would figure it out, and he would leave me for you in the end. You're his best friend – well, more than that, actually. I'm not sure there's a term for what you mean to him that adequately expresses the depth of his feelings. I knew it when we got together, but I'd hoped–" She gently patted her lower abdomen. "Well, anyway, I'll always have something of him to love now."

He frowned, measuring her words in his head – finding what she wasn't saying. "Why didn't you tell us?"

She gave him an enigmatic smile. "I know you, Malfoy. I know how deep and how strong your prejudices run. I know that even now, if it hadn't been for a war and a maniacal Dark Master lording over you, you'd still feel the same about Muggle-borns. It took death and terror for you to change your mind about that. I knew it would require something equally as difficult for you to change your mind about being in love with a man." She waved off his automatic protest. "Theo's told me of your homophobic views on more than one occasion. It irritates him, you know, because he's always been in love with you."

"And yet you're dating him."

She shrugged. "The heart wants what it wants, and not even biology can stand in the way. You should know that better than most now."

He stared at her through new, assessing eyes, realizing how strong and compassionate she really was to be having this conversation with him without breaking down into tears or throwing him out on his ear, angry that he'd be stealing away the man she loved. He'd always known her to be a bleeding-heart liberal, and before this whole thing with the Dhampir, he'd found her beliefs and her behaviour to be ridiculous. Now, though, he was inclined to agree with just about everyone else in the wizarding world: this witch was brilliant.

"I'm beginning to think that maybe you were sorted into the wrong House."

One of her delicate, dark eyebrows rose in response to that. "Oh, you'd be surprised what the Sorting Hat said to me before finally deciding on Gryffindor."

He couldn't help the grin that overtook his face. "Maybe one day you'll tell me."

He heard Theo moving around finally in the bedroom he shared with Hermione, and every fibre of his being snapped to attention, focussing on the narrow hallway that led in that direction… and suddenly, he was eager to see his mate. His fingers twitched to touch Theo, to assure he was okay after last night's fuck fest.

Granger chuckled. "You'd better go on in and tell him, if you haven't already. He still thinks I'm your mate and that he did something noble and heroic last night to protect the baby and me from your… rougher tendencies."

Draco nodded, and hurried off. At the hallway entrance, he paused though and looked back at Granger. "Thanks," he offered, "for everything."

Her smile was pretty and genuine, and she gave it freely to him.

No, she'd never be a classic beauty, but there was a delightful charm to Hermione Granger that Draco was just now realizing could break men's hearts. It was what Theo had seen in her all along, no doubt.

"We'll talk," he promised her, willing to work out some accommodating for her and Theo's baby. He wanted his mate happy, and if that meant Draco Malfoy had to make peace with Hermione Granger once and for all, then he'd do it.

He'd do whatever it took to earn Theo's heart.

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_**TO BE CONCLUDED...**_

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**AUTHOR'S NOTES:**

**Please review!**


	5. Chapter 5 - Epilogue

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_**Epilogue: Three Months Later…**_

There was a knock at the door of Draco's study. He paused in penning a note to his father's solicitors regarding the selling of some of the Malfoy assets to purchase new investment opportunities in potions ingredients to address the interruption.

"Come."

The door opened to a wonderful, warm, familiar scent… and Theo's head popped around the wooden frame. "Busy?"

With shaking fingers, Draco put his quill back in its inkpot and set his work aside. "Not at all. You're bang on time, in fact." The heat was finally easing, but its compulsion didn't account for the anxiousness Draco was currently feeling. The quaking in his limbs and in his heart was a result of the decision he'd finally come to this morning.

His best friend smirked and came all the way into the room, shutting and locking the door behind him. Draco cast a non-verbal on the door for further privacy, anticipating what was coming next.

"You shouldn't wait so long to call for me," Theo admonished him. "I swear you're part masochist."

"Maybe I am, because I'm about to propose something mad," Draco stopped him.

Theo paused, giving him a questioning glance.

"I've already spoken to Granger about it," Draco said, suddenly never more sure of anything in his life than what he was about to do. "She likes the idea."

"What idea?"

He took a deep breath and let it out in a rush. "I bought an estate near here. It's big enough for three, with a giant yard so… so children could play."

Theo's mouth dropped open. "You want us to all move in together?"

Draco nodded, swallowing down another bout of nervousness. "She seemed amicable to the idea of opening up your relationship to include me." At Theo's rounded expression, Draco ran a hand through his hair. He wasn't doing a good job explaining this. "As in, not just sharing your time, but sharing you. Together. You know?"

"You're talking about a threesome."

Talk about getting to the heart of the matter…

"I'll need an heir. Can't get that from you, now, can I?"

"And she's okay with that plan?" Theo still sounded doubtful.

"She's not untouchable, obviously. You shagged her, and clearly, you enjoyed it. And, in a way, I've already shagged the physical image of her when you took the Polyjuice, and I know I enjoyed that. Besides, she's kind of grown on me these past months. There's a bit of Slytherin in her that kind of… gets me hard. And she does still smell like you because of the pregnancy."

Theo just stared at him. "Did she say she wanted you in the same way?"

Here came the tricky part to the plan. Draco shrugged. "I approached her about the moving in together thing. Sold her on it, really, with the enticement of the yard for the sprog. And as I said, she was definitely up for sharing _you_. Obviously, she's still in love with you. As for me touching her… I thought maybe you could…"

"Pave the way for you to climb into her bed, too?"

Draco shrugged. "Something like that."

His mate laughed, and began shucking his clothing in haste. "You're getting _me_ hard with all your scheming." He pulled his jumper from his head and tossed it to the ground, already working on the buttons of his shirt. "Don't worry, mate. I have a feeling it won't be too difficult to get Hermione's interest."

Draco stood up and began unbuckling his belt, stripping down to skin. "Oh, why's that?"

Theo's smirk was as sly as a fox's, and his grin twice as devastating. "She's already confessed to me that the idea of you and me together arouses her."

"We'll have to give her a show sometime, then," Draco offered, shucking his jumper and kicking his shoes off. "Maybe arrange it so she 'accidentally' walks in on us."

"Draw her in naturally, but never tell her," Theo said, nodding, toeing off his own shoes and reaching down to remove his socks. "I like that plan."

"It would be only fair. She knew about us, and kept her mouth closed."

"Reciprocal manipulation," his mate agreed, yanking his trousers and pants down to his ankles and kicking them off. "The Great Salazar would be proud."

"God, I'm going to fuck you so hard," Draco growled, stroking his naked cock. He was as hard as steel and randy as hell; conspiring with Theo always got him horny.

When his best friend was starkers, Draco crossed the room and took the guy in his arms. Dragging his mate to the floor, he sunk his teeth into his mate's soft, white throat.

"Oh, God, I love this," Theo gasped, rolling his hips to rub his hard erection against Draco's. "I love it so much." He buried his nose into Draco's hairline and held onto him tight. "I love you."

_Love you, too_, Draco thought as he made reckless, wild love to Theo again.

In the afters, as he and Theo lie panting, entangled, sweaty and sated, Draco considered his Dhampir legacy. For a curse, being born different had actually done him a lot of good. It had forced him to re-evaluate his beliefs, to see where his opinions were harmful and where they were strong, to decide what kind of man he wanted to be, rather than to follow blindly after old traditions like a child would. Consequently, the last walls erected by his childhood prejudice had finally crumbled away, unable to withstand what Granger claimed was the most powerful magic in the world: love.

Yeah, he was gay. So what? He'd finally come out about it, accepting that there were things in this world a person couldn't control, couldn't dictate, and shouldn't hide. Being homosexual was one of those things. It wasn't shameful. Being a bigot about the lifestyle was, though.

_Well, at least I'm not a bloody hypocrite any longer,_ he thought as he nuzzled his mate, trying to seduce him for a round two.

_**~Fin~**_

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**Author's Final Notes:**

Thus we come to the end of our tale, faithful readers. For those who really wanted Hermione to have an HEA in this story, here it is! Clearly, things are going to go well for this lovely threesome, who will build a life, a home, and a family together in the future. Yes, Draco will eventually come to love Hermione (how could he not?), and he'll one day look back on this time of his life (sometime in the far off future, when he's old and his heart is ready for its final sleep), and realise that his familial curse was actually his greatest life's blessing. _**  
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I hope you've enjoyed this story. No sequel planned. Thanks for reading, and hope you'll review. :)

**XOXO,**

- RZZMG


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